Dawn Staley courtside at Olympics with Vanessa Bryant, Kevin Durant for USA vs Australia women's basketball
South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley joined a star-studded group sitting courtside for the U.S. women's basketball team's Olympics semifinals game in Paris on Friday.
The NBC broadcast showed Staley with Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Kobe Bryant, and their daughter Natalia. Others in the row included several members of the U.S. men’s basketball team, including Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayo, retired WNBA player Sue Bird and retired Olympic soccer player Megan Rapinoe.
Staley watched the quarterfinal game on Wednesday, posting an image of her former player A'ja Wilson on the court, but got a better seat for Friday's semifinal game against Australia, which began at 11:30 a.m. Staley rocked a visor from Wilson's new line with Nike.
During halftime of the game, Staley was interviewed by NBC Sports reporter Zora Stephenson and asked about her time in Paris.
"It is by far the very best, you meet so many people," Staley said of being a spectator throughout the Olympics. "You get to eat all kinds of food ... I am living my best live."
Staley played in three Olympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and coached the U.S. women's team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where Team USA won its seventh gold medal. Staley is now on the selection committee for the USA women's basketball team and has supported the 2024 team in Paris the last two weeks.
"This team had very little practice time, little preparation time so they're playing on the fly," Staley said. "But now that we are two weeks into the Olympic Games, they're starting to gel and the biggest movement I see on the defensive side of the basketball."
Team USA will play for an eighth straight gold medal on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET, after defeating Australia 85-64. Wilson had 10 points and eight rebounds in the win.
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley watches USA vs Australia women's basketball at Olympics
